Eight Realities That Demand Multi-Factor Authentication

Featured article by David Hald, co-founder and chief relation officer, SMS PASSCODE

Security is part and parcel of an IT admin’s job duties, but it is just one of a long litany of must-do’s that crowd each day. They put the basics in place, including antivirus software, passwords and firewalls, and then turn their attention to the latest priority or malfunction.

Last year’s record-setting number of data breaches have sent a shudder down the spine of IT admins, who double-check their security strategies, deploy encryption technology and periodically run vulnerability tests. But the sobering reality is that if multi-factor authentication is not in place, these other security measures can be bypassed, rendering them useless.

This era of clever and determined hackers calls for the development of an authentication strategy that protects the company’s platforms and users alike, reducing complexity while ensuring access and boosting the flexibility of remote workers.

Protection Across Platforms

Within each modern network reside multiple third-party platforms, including remotely accessed cloud apps. While security is clearly a top priority, it must be balanced with cost, convenience, interoperability, effectiveness and ease of use – many of which often take precedence over security, depending on the moment’s needs. Therefore, the IT administrator must ensure that remote access works seamlessly and easily with every platform in the portfolio without breaking the budget.

Enter multi-factor authentication. By confirming the user’s identity during the login process, it protects data from hacking and phishing attacks and can be seamlessly integrated into a number of third-party platforms used across the organization. Real-time, mobile-based methods of authentication employees have proven to be a cost-effective way to significantly increase the level of security without requiring the user to learn a new authentication method for every application they try to access. A cross-platform approach, therefore, boosts user satisfaction and cuts the number of security applications the IT admin is required to manage.

Simplifying Access

As the name implies, a network is a net of many strands that are connected and—hopefully—working together. Every new module or upgraded system threatens to set off a chain of events that requires tweaks and adjustments to processes, which can irritate users and keep them offline. Since a streamlined authentication process keeps productivity (and morale) high, IT administrators should ensure that each new upgrade or addition affects access to critical programs as little as possible.

A Secure Remote Workforce

The 24/7, remote workforce is becoming a reality, supported by significant advancements in remote access for critical business applications. The IT department is responsible for facilitating the remote workforce’s ability to perform its functions from outside the office environment, which means its authentication strategy must make it as easy as possible to safely access business applications from anywhere, at any time.

By enabling administrators to adapt the level of support needed using contextual information, such as login behavior patterns, geo-location and type of login system being accessed, multi-factor authentication is just what the IT admin ordered. For example, if the user is logging in from a trusted location where they have logged in before, they will not be prompted for a one-time passcode in order to authenticate. This allows end users the needed security with greater ease of use while working off-premise.

Eight Realities That Demand Multi-Factor Authentication

Need more proof that multi-factor authentication is a business necessity? Consider these facts:

1. From 2013 to 2014, the number of successful breaches went up by 27.5percent. Not only that, but they also took longer to be discovered and ended up costing the victim companies 30percent more.

2. The weapons of choice for hackers are weak or stolen user credentials, which are exploited in 76 percent of all network breaches.

3. Hackers continue to innovate more effective methods for stealing passwords through phishing, pharming, keylogging and other methods.

4. Now more profitable than drug-related crimes, identity theft is the fastest-growing type of crime. It is a relatively easy, low-risk, high-reward type of crime and a threat to all businesses.

5. Hackers do more than steal information. Often they destroy data, change programs or services, or use servers to transmit propaganda, spam or malicious code.

6. Companies with household names may be the ones making headlines when they are hacked, but they are not the only ones being targeted. 31 percent of all targeted attacks were aimed at businesses with fewer than 250 employees.

7. Anti-virus systems, advanced firewalls vulnerability tests are a good place to start. However, without user authentication, you are leaving the front door wide open to intruders.

8. Don’t be afraid to implement user authentication. Employees are already accustomed to authenticating themselves in their personal lives, as providers of online services have all adopted mobile-based tools to effectively authenticate their users when accessing their systems.

The Missing Link

Malicious actors will stop at nothing to take what they want, devising ever-more innovative and ingenious methods of nullifying security strategies. When a breach occurs, IT gets the blame – rightly or wrongly. It’s a good idea for IT admins to secure all platforms in such a way that everyone has access to the data and applications they need to work remotely, but in a cost-effective manner. This is the genius of multi-factor authentication. With its convenient and familiar user validation, it simplifies IT while providing the missing security link to keep employees in and hackers out.

About the Author

David Hald is a founding member of SMS PASSCODE A/S, where he acts as a liaison and a promoter of the award-winning SMS PASSCODE multi-factor authentication solutions. Prior to founding SMS PASSCODE A/S, he was a co-founder and CEO of Conecto A/S, a leading consulting company within the area of mobile- and security solutions with special emphasis on Citrix, Blackberry and other advanced mobile solutions. In Conecto A/S David has worked with strategic and tactic implementation in many large IT-projects. David has also been CTO in companies funded by Teknologisk Innovation and Vækstfonden. Prior to founding Conecto, he has worked as a software developer and project manager, and has headed up his own software consulting company. David has a technical background from the Computer Science Institute of Copenhagen University (DIKU). http://www.smspasscode.com/